Rebel Twilight
by E. L. Glass
Summary: As Imperial forces close the noose around Echo Base, Rebel technician Ginovae 'Vae' Damarcus flees with a small group of survivors. The gallant Rebel forces embark on an odyssey to regroup with their comrades, and find adventure along the way.
1. Chapter 1

_STAR WARS_

_REBEL TWILIGHT_

_It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Months have passed since their victory at Yavin IV, and the Alliance has set up a hidden base on the ice world of Hoth._

_The Empire's relentless search for the Rebels, compounded by Darth Vader's uncompromising obsession with finding the Death Star's destroyer, has led the Empire to the ice planet._

_Now, the Rebels who have lived and worked on Hoth scramble to evacuate. Some are captured, and some are killed. The rest are scattered to the astral winds. . ._

Breath hung like fog in the subterranean ice tunnels as officers, soldiers, pilots, and technicians hurried along the way. The announcement that the Empire had found Echo Base had certainly not gone unnoticed. Like a well-oiled machine, the Alliance to Restore the Republic's most dedicated and hardened soldiers sprang into action to defend their base long enough to escape.

They had had enough practice doing so in the past few years that they were experts. The Empire hunted them incessantly. And so they had been forced to inhabit the icy caverns of Hoth.

_It wouldn't be so bad if we could have heaters_, thought Ginovae Damarcus as she jogged down one of the long corridors towards the command center. _It might be nice to get warm without melting the place._

She came to a rest outside the command center and doubled over, panting. She had run half a kilometer from her barracks, barely having time to slip into a white and pale-blue uniform. She had hastily braided her long black hair and had jammed a cap over her head before leaving. Presently, she straightened and pressed the door activation button. The heavy door slid aside, admitting her to the command center.

General Carlist Rieekan stood at the center of what looked like mayhem. Ginovae knew it was organized chaos, however. He saw her enter, gave her a curt nod, and turned to converse with another woman – Princess Leia Organa. Ginovae nodded as well and went to a seat at a coordination system.

"Report, this is control," she said into voice pickup after pulling a headset on.

"Anti-infantry cannon one reporting online," came the gruff voice of a trooper. Three more similar reports followed.

"Stand by," Ginovae said.

Several moments later, there seemed to be a collective gasp on all channels. Then, an astounded voice said, "Walkers."

"General," Ginovae called over her shoulder. "Will the anti-infantry cannons be effective against the AT-ATs?" She thought, _I don't like our odds._ Gritting her teeth, she murmured for the cannons under her control to target the All-Terrain Armored Transports.

"We don't know," said Rieekan, his voice grave. "We haven't tested them against the walkers yet. But it's better than blaster rifles. Fire at will." The noise level in the command center was raised by several decibels as battle chatter was tossed back and forth.

Ginovae designated a target on her screen and said into her voice pickup, "Open fire. Concentrate on the cockpit if you can." It seemed the logical choice to her. _Always aim for the moving parts,_ Ginovae thought wryly as her blood began to race. _Even better if that's where the weapons are._

A static-tainted message was broadcast throughout the entire base. "The first transport is away." There was a cheer in the command center, but Ginovae did not take part. She moved her stylus over the reports from her gunners. The anti-infantry cannons were not doing well against the AT-ATs. _Galloping gundarks,_ she thought, then opened a channel to her gunners. "Try the joints on the legs," she ordered.

Several moments passed as she waited for a reply. A transmission from Rogue Leader sounded through the command center: "Echo station five-seven. We're on our way."

There was a loud explosion somewhere in the distance. Powdery snow sifted down from the ceiling, and the glass displays trembled ominously. Tense silence filled the command center. A gunner reported, "It's not working."

"General, the anti-infantry cannons aren't working on the walkers," Ginovae called over her shoulder. Rieekan looked at her, his forehead creased. Suddenly, a cheer went up, and Ginovae turned to look at the main display. The smoldering wreckage of an AT-AT lay on a snow bank while two rebel snowspeeders soared triumphantly over it. "Well done, Rogue flight," Ginovae said to herself.

There was another explosion, this one closer, and large chunks of the ice ceiling tumbled onto the computer equipment. Ginovae barely had time to throw herself out of her chair before the ceiling crushed her workstation. She picked herself up off the ground and looked around. Several of her colleagues were doing the same.

"I don't think we can protect two transports at a time," Rieekan was saying to Princess Leia.

The Princess looked thoughtful, then replied, "It's risky, but we can't hold out much longer."

They shared a look of concern for several long moments before Rieekan lifted a comlink to his mouth and ordered, "Launch patrols."

Leia turned to address an aide, her face paling as another explosion rocked the command center. "Evacuate remaining ground staff." Before the aide could order Ginovae to the hangar, though, Ginovae sank into a chair of a workstation that hadn't been crushed and began to coordinate the shield controls alongside the ion cannon controller.

There was a grinding sound, and Ginovae turned briefly to see the door grinding open. A dark-haired man that she recognized as Han Solo burst into the command center and walked directly over to Princess Leia. "You all right?" he demanded.

Ginovae couldn't see the Princess' face, but she could certainly hear the malice in her voice. "Why are you still here?"

"I heard the command center'd been hit."

"You've got your clearance to leave," the Princess thundered, as if she hadn't heard his explanation.

Solo took her elbow and said, "Don't worry, I'll leave. First I'm going to get you to your ship."

The golden protocol droid that followed the Princess around inclined its head. "Your Highness, we must take this last transport. It's our only hope."

Leia turned to Ginovae and ordered, "Send all troops in sector twelve to the south slop to protect the fighters." She was interrupted when a blast shook the command center. The droid tumbled into Solo's arms, and the Princess gripped the side of a display for balance.

A voice on the loudspeaker called, "Imperial troops have entered the base. Imperial troops have entered the base."

Until then, the battle had been far away. Others had been fighting it, out on the plains of Hoth. Now, Ginovae realized with a shudder colder than any snowdrift. As she hurried to carry out her orders, she heard Solo mutter, "Come on, that's it."

"Give the evacuation code signal," Leia ordered grimly. "And get to your transports!"

A voice behind Ginovae said, "K-one-zero, all troops disengage."

Ginovae got up from her station just in time to see the golden protocol droid to shuffle out of the command center. The head controller turned to Ginovae. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

"Sir, I can still…"

"There's nothing more you can do, Damarcus. Get to your transport."

_He's probably right,_ Ginovae thought as she picked her way through the debris that was the command center. She muscled the door aside enough to slip through and began sprinting down the corridor. A few hundred meters down the way, the cave was blocked. "Great. Just what I need," she said to no one in particular.


	2. Chapter 2

A wall of snow and ice loomed before Ginovae, impenetrable and rough. She tried dig for a few seconds until her bare hands were raw with cold. Cursing herself for not grabbing her blaster, she frowned and turned to backtrack. In the distance, she could hear the sounds of laserfire echoing off the walls.

She passed a half-caved in opening that led, if she remembered correctly, towards the shield generator bunker. It was probably a dead end, and so she continued the way she had come. She had barely gone a meter when a voice called out, "Hey – hey, you!"

Ginovae turned and peered around the corner. A man in a set of torn white fatigues knelt next to another man, sprawled on the floor. Ginovae clambered over the rubble and hurried over. "What happened?"

"Ice fell on him," explained the soldier kneeling on the ground. "I'm trying to stop the bleeding, but…" His voice trailed off, and he gave a slight shake of his head.

"Look, the stormtroopers are coming," Ginovae said, dropping to a crouch next to the injured man. She reached for his neck, feeling for a pulse. There was none. "If there's nothing we can, we should get out while we still can."

"Yeah," said the kneeling man, but his eyes remained fixed on the soldier sprawled on the icy floor. There was a crash in the distance, followed by the sound that could only herald the imminent arrival of a large number of stormtroopers.

"Do you mind if I…?" Ginovae allowed her voice trailed off as she reached for the blaster rifle that the dead soldier had apparently dropped. The other man looked over at her and then stood up.

"Go ahead," he said. "Maxim Murett," he added as Ginovae stood.

"Vae Damarcus," she replied, hefting the blaster rifle. "Look, we should get out of here. My transport is blocked, and I'm sure they're already gone by now. What about yours?"

"Me and Sirym were supposed to fly out in a Z-95XT," said Murett, jerking a thumb towards the dead soldier. He regarded her curiously as he moved towards the rubble-filled entrance to he hall way. "Do you think you can manage as co-pilot?"

Ginovae had had basic pilot training before joining the Alliance. "As long as it's not us against a Star Destroyer, I should be fine."

"Don't worry," Murett said wearily as the picked his way over the debris in the corridor's entrance. Ginovae followed, still fumbling with the blaster. "Do you know how to use that thing?"

"Well…" Ginovae mimicked pulling the trigger.

Murett gave a grunt and took the blaster from her. He flicked a knob on the butt of the rifle and handed it back. "The safety's off – now point it anywhere but at me."

Ginovae nodded, embarrassment causing a lump to rise in her throat. She followed silently for several moments before asking, "Where is this Headhunter of yours?"

"Sector one seven," he replied, taking the right tunnel in the fork they had come to.

"We can't go this way," Ginovae protested. "That leads to the command center. It's all but caved in."

"The ship isn't in the command center," Murett retorted, slapping a dangling wire out of the way.

"But don't you think we'll run into stormtroopers?" Ginovae asked, ducking under the same wire. She hefted her blaster rifle and continued forward,

"We'll manage," was his dispassionate reply. He withdrew his own blaster pistol from the holster on his hip.

As if on cue, a bolt of red light came hurtling down the corridor ahead of them. It superheated a segment of the ice, causing it to burst into flame briefly. Ginovae stopped in her tracks and let Murett push her up against the wall. "Blast," he said through gritted teeth.

"We can't just stay here," hissed Ginovae, her blue eyes betraying the fear she felt.

"Throw down your weapons!" ordered an Imperial stormtrooper. He was far enough along the corridor that Ginovae couldn't see him. "Come out with your hands up."

"If there were more than two or three, they'd have killed us by now," Murett whispered. "We can take them." He looked at her for several moments, but his black eyes seemed to stare right through her. Finally, he murmured, "Run back the way we came. Make as much noise as you can. When I say now, turn around and start shooting."

"What?" Ginovae's voice was incredulous, but she managed to keep it near-silent. "We'll both be killed."

"Just do it," Murett ordered quietly. They stared at each other for several moments before Ginovae finally nodded. She turned and ran down the corridor, her boots crunching ice and panels of glass as she did. She had barely begun running when she heard the footfalls of what sounded like a squad of men. She glanced over her shoulder.

Murett was crouched behind a stack of cargo crates. Four stormtroopers, each clad in plasteel cold-weather armor, were giving pursuit. The hammering in her chest was completely unrelated to the physical exertion that came with running. It was all she could do to stifle a shriek when the blaster bolts began flying past her head. "Now!" cried Murett.

Ginovae spun on her feet, crouching low as she squeezed the trigger on her blaster. Hard light screamed at the stormtroopers from the front and the back as she and Murett fired in unison. She spun into a caved-in corridor, which offered cover from their fire. She threw her arm out, squeezed one eye shut and lined the other up with the sight on the blaster, and fired.

Two troopers were already down, and the other two fell in the crossfire. Ginovae tried to catch her breath as she picked her way over the smoldering pile of bodies. Murett reached over and gripped her elbow, helping her. "That was good," he said quietly. "Real good shooting."

Ginovae looked over her shoulder as they rounded a corner, catching one last glimpse of the stormtroopers. She had no regrets, only a cold determination to survive. "Let's get out of here."

Pulling the white combat jacket tighter around her, Ginovae couldn't help but feel isolated. Even with Murett beside her, she was still without any of the people she knew. The other technicians had evacuated early, or so she hoped. Murett's voice jarred her from her thoughts. "Through here."

He pressed a panel to open a door in the expanse of ice. The machinery was jammed, it seemed. Ginovae raised an eyebrow at Murett and he smiled sheepishly. "Step back, Vae," he advised, leveling his blaster at the door panel. Hard red light burst from the end of his blaster and the panel exploded in a shower of sparks. Ginovae glanced down the corridor, looking for signs of stormtroopers coming. It was clear.

Murett finally lost patience with the door, and he threw his weight against it as hard as he could. Ginovae could tell that it knocked the wind out of him by the way he gripped his abdomen, but the door was jarred loose. Ginovae pressed her palms against the door and shoved it to one side. Murett gripped the side and shoved, and together they were able to push the door halfway into the socket – enough for both to slip through. The two-person fighter sat in the damaged hangar, a ladder linking the cockpit to the icy floor.

"Thank the Force," Ginovae breathed as they ran towards the ship. Murett helped her up the ladder, gesturing for her to take the left-hand seat.

"I'll shoot, you fly."

"You think we'll have to shoot?" she asked, looking alarmed.

"Just in case. Do it." They buckled in, Ginovae starting the takeoff sequence. Murett shoved the ladder off the side of the fighter as the repulsors whined, causing the ship to hover. "Punch it."

The world was a blur of blue and white, of rubble and flames, of carcasses and blood. And then they were in the cold vacuum of space.


End file.
